


The Lady in the Lake

by segerge



Series: TASK FORCE [20]
Category: Champions (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 15:43:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16390532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segerge/pseuds/segerge
Summary: (October 1990) The violently anti-mutant organization GENOCIDE targets TASK FORCE as they investigate reports of a ghost around Dallas' White Rock Lake





	The Lady in the Lake

**Author's Note:**

> **warnings** : language (including 1 drunken Atomic F Strike), mutants, anti-mutant organizations, drowning, time loops, intense action sequences, multiple Christian conversions, suicide
> 
> * * *
> 
> #### DRAMATIS PERSONAE
> 
> **TASK FORCE (Dallas-Fort Worth superhero team)**
> 
>   * Julie Dormyer (AKA Ladyhawk), Chairman of the Board of Directors for ProStar, ninja with latent powers of temporal visualization
>   * Dr. Bob Hawkins (AKA Starforce), Senior Research Scientist for ProStar, power-armor wearer/gadgeteer
>   * Rev. Kent Christiansen (AKA Spiritual Warrior), Associate Pastor of Carrollton Park Church, mage with a holy sword
>   * Frederick 'Bowser' Bastable (AKA Mr. Bassman), jazz artist and mutant sonic projector
>   * Zes'arou Al'Gari Vikon (AKA Sage), exiled Varanyi psionic
> 

> 
> **Villains**
> 
>   * Franklin D. Kramer, former Undersecretary of Defense for Paranormal Affairs, President of the Pure Earth Society
> 

> 
> **Other**
> 
>   * Frank Dormyer, founder of ProStar
>   * Keiko Ishikawa Dormyer, Frank's wife
>   * Mary Kramer, deceased (?) sister of Franklin, mutant time-elemental
>   * Shina Arikawa, butler/chauffer/bodyguard for Julie Dormyer (her 'Alfred')
>   * Ferris Drake IV, Director of Dallas-Fort Worth Operations, Drake-Victoria Aerospace
>   * Charles Bashang, Silver Avenger assigned to the PRIMUS DFW detachment
> 

> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 1** : Telepathy is denoted by (( )), internal monologue by [[ ]].
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 2** : This story is partly based on an [actual urban legend/ghost story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rock_Lake#Folklore) in the Dallas area.
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 3** : Ranger is still unavailable as he has been called back to active duty in his secret identity to support Desert Shield, and as of this story is in Saudi Arabia.
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 4** : I'm using the 4th Edition Champions anti-mutant organization GENOCIDE at this point of the TASK FORCE universe instead of the FRed/6th Edition Champions Institute for Human Advancement to reflect a more-aggressive anti-mutant sentiment in the late 1980's/early 1990's.
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S NOTE 5** : Some knowledge of the story "The City That VIPER Built" is helpful but not necessary to understand what VIPER did to Julie up in Dayton, and also why she has some post-traumatic stress to work through from those events.

* * *

**PROLOGUE** \- East Lawther Drive, Dallas TX. December 23, 1961.

(Frank and Keiko Dormyer are enjoying the Christmas lights and decorations on the houses around White Rock Lake)

 **Frank** (driving): "Hard to realize that this time next year our baby will be sharing this with us."

 **Keiko** (shy smile while rubbing her belly): "I hope she finds this time of the year as special as we do."

 **Frank** (beat): "She?"

 **Keiko** (smug): "She."

 **Frank** : "I still think our baby will be Francis Layne Dormyer, Junior."

 **Keiko** (smiling): "Julia Lynne Dormyer. Bet me?"

(before they can start laughing, Keiko winces in pain and starts to bend over)

 **Frank** (alarmed): "Honey, are you okay?!?"

 **Keiko** (gasping): "I'm fine, she's kicking up a storm all of the sudden..." (looks up) "LOOK OUT!!!"

(Frank registers the motion out of the corner of his eye as Keiko screams warning. He stands on the brake pedal, and their car stops inches short of a woman standing in the middle of Lawther Drive. Her dress appears to be some sort of evening gown that would have been in style a generation ago)

 **Frank** (to Keiko, putting the car in neutral and setting the parking brake): "Stay in the car."

(he gets out of the car, and observes that the woman is dripping wet)

 **Frank** (to the woman): "Ma'am, do you need help?"

 **Woman** : "Please help me! I don't have much time!"

 **Frank** : "I can get you to a hospital..."

 **Woman** (interrupting): "No! Get me to 6988 Gaston Avenue!"

 **Frank** : "Your parent's house?"

 **Woman** (frantic): "Yes! HURRY!"

 **Frank** (taking the woman's arm): "Okay! Let me help you into my car."

(he gets the woman into the back seat of the car, then gets behind the wheel again and puts the car back into gear)

 **Frank** (to the woman): "I'm Frank, and this is my wife Keiko..."

 **Woman** (interrupting, to Keiko): "You're Oriental!"

 **Keiko** (deadpan): "My mother was Scottish, if that helps." (beat) "What's your name?"

 **Woman** : "Mary."

 **Frank** (driving): "Awful cold night to be going for a swim."

 **Keiko** : "Boating accident?"

 **Mary** : "I was pushed in."

 **Frank** (angry): "Who did this to you?"

 **Mary** (with increasing urgency): "My brother, Franklin. Please HURRY!"

 **Frank** : "I think we need to call the police..."

 **Mary** (strangely): "Help. Meee..."

(there is a strange gurgle to her voice, almost as if she were talking underwater)

 **Keiko** (gasping): "Frank! She's GONE!"

 **Frank** : "WHAT?!?"

(for the second time in a minute, Frank stands on the brakes of his car. Fumbling with the dashboard, he turns the interior lights on. There is nothing in the back seat to indicate Mary had even existed except for a puddle of water where she had been sitting)

 **Keiko** (uncertainly): "I was looking at her, and... and... she just wasn't THERE anymore!"

 **Frank** : "She didn't open the doors? Just... vanished?!?"

 **Keiko** : "Yes!"

(long pause, interrupted by the occasional wince on Keiko's face as the baby inside of her kicks)

* * *

(East Lawther Drive, Dallas TX. October 1990)

(with a squeal of abused tires, a VIPER-liveried van turns hard off of Mockingbird Lane onto the road around the eastern shore of White Rock Lake. Beat, then with a snarl of power a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle driven by Julie 'Ladyhawk' Dormyer in full superheroic kit follows in hot pursuit)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Nerd-boy! Where does this road go?"

 **Starforce** (over radio): "Dead-ends in a quarter-mile." (beat, urgently) "I'm picking up energy signatures all around the dead-end!"

 **Ladyhawk** (turning the motorcycle violently): "Not tonight, VIPER!"

(she slides her motorcycle into a full-180 Tokyo Drift and guns the throttle once she's aimed northbound again)

 **Starforce** (over radio): "I can stay up here and see where their trap goes after you get clear. I don't think they've noticed me."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Copy that, Nerd... SHIIT!!!!!'

(she almost wipes the motorcycle out avoiding the woman suddenly standing in the middle of Lawther Drive, soaking wet and wearing an evening gown that would have been in style prior to World War II. Tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Ma'am, do you need help?"

 **Woman** : "Please help me! I don't have much time!"

(there are some burst of static over Ladyhawk's mask, as if someone were trying to reach her by radio)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Ma'am, stay calm. Do you need to go to a hospital?"

 **Woman** : "No, I need to go home!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Where is that?"

 **Woman** : "6988 Gaston Avenue!"

(there is a gust of air, and the shooting star that just dropped out of Dallas' night sky resolves itself into Bob 'Starforce' Hawkins in full superheroic kit)

 **Starforce** (amazed): "Whoa. Ninjette, the woman's radiating theta-bosons like there's no tomorrow!"

 **Ladyhawk** (annoyed): "No time for science, Nerd-boy! We need to get this woman to a hospital and call the police!"

 **Woman** (frantic): "No! I need to go home!"

 **Ladyhawk** (stern): "You're probably suffering from hypothermia. THAT requires taking you to the ER..."

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk): "Closest hospital to here is Presbyterian up near North Park Mall." (to the woman) "Ma'am, I'm going to pick you up and fly you to the hospital. It'll only be a minute..."

 **Woman** (hysterical): "PLEASE! You *have* to take me home!!"

 **Starforce** (sighing): "Right. If you're not going to go voluntarily..."

(50 STR Telekinesis moves the woman from in front of Ladyhawk into Starforce's arms)

 **Starforce** (apologetic, to the woman): "I'm sorry, ma'am, but this is for your own good."

 **Woman** (strangely): "Help. Meee..."

(there is a strange gurgle to her voice, almost as if she were talking underwater. And just like that, Starforce is holding nothing in his arms)

 **Starforce** (profoundly confused): "What the HELL?!?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Where'd she go?"

 **Starforce** (still confused): "Dunno. There was a flare of theta-bosons... then I was holding nothing!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (just as confused as Starforce): "Meet me back home!"

 **Starforce** : "On it."

(the Kawasaki Ninja snarls off to the north on Lawther Drive as Starforce springs into the air and flies off)

* * *

(ProStar, Plano TX. The next morning)

(Julie is sitting at Ted Jameson's desk in the CEO's office while Bob drinks a coffee sitting on one of the couches in front of it. A buzzer sounds from the phone)

 **Ladyhawk** (hitting a button on the phone): "Yes?"

 **Phone** : "Special courier from Sidewinder Security. Package for your eyes only."

 **Ladyhawk** (to phone): "Send him in."

 **Starforce** : "Courier from Dayton?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Probably."

(the door to the office opens, and a nondescript man enters with a large stuffed envelope)

 **Courier** : "Miss Dormyer?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Here."

 **Courier** (handing her the envelope and a clipboard): "Sign here, please."

 **Ladyhawk** (signing): "Got it."

 **Courier** (turning to leave): "The local trans-shipment node added a message which needs to be relayed to other parties. Could you do this?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "What other parties?"

 **Courier** (beat): "The superhero group TASK FORCE."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I'll see what I can do."

 **Courier** : "Thank you, ma'am."

(the courier leaves Julie's office)

 **Starforce** (beat): "So what does VIPER's Dayton nest have to communicate with us this time?"

 **Ladyhawk** (opening the stuffed envelope): "Stop it."

(tense pause while she gets the envelope open and retrives two pieces of paper from within it)

 **Ladyhawk** (softly): "Well how about that."

 **Starforce** : "Could you be more specific?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Clint Stanton got shanked in the back two nights ago while taking a shower in the Montgomery County Jail."

 **Starforce** : "Dead?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yep."

 **Starforce** (beat): "Couldn't happen to a nicer man."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Tell me about it." (beat, examines the other note) "Now that's interesting."

 **Starforce** : "Care to share?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "The attack on Texas Instruments' Forest Lane facility?"

 **Starforce** : "What about it?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Our *local* Nest Leader would like to talk to TASK FORCE about what happened there last night."

 **Starforce** (confused): "Why?"

 **Ladyhawk** (slowly): "I'm not sure." (beat, reading the second sheet) "They would like to meet us at a bar on Gaston Avenue tonight under a flag of truce."

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "THAT has 'trap' written all over it."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Ya THINK?!?"

* * *

(Hilton Hotel Addison Galleria, Dallas TX. Lunch Hour)

(A late-model sedan pulls up to the front entrance, and Julie gets out of the back while Shina Arikawa rolls her window down)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Will I need to call for you after the Luncheon?"

 **Shina** : "I should be waiting for you, Julie-san. I should not be that long at the Galleria."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Then go forth and conquer!"

(smiling, Shina rolls up her window before driving off. Julie turns around and strides into the lobby of the Hilton)

 **Ladyhawk** (murmuring absently): "Now *where's* the Chamber of Commerce Luncheon?"

(her question is answered after only a few seconds of scanning the lobby when she sees Ferris Drake IV trying to get her attention. She waves and walks over toward him)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Hey Ferris! How's tricks?"

 **FD4** : "They suck when a Drake presence is required at a Chamber of Commerce function and both your father and older brother are busy."

 **Ladyhawk** (suppressing a chuckle while she shakes her head): "Oh, well."

 **FD4** : "Thanks for the sympathy, ACTING CEO Dormyer..."

(they share a brief laugh as they walk into the ballroom)

 **Ladyhawk** : "So how are the wedding preparations going?"

 **FD4** : "Actually going really well, considering that Leslie insisted on a Christmastime wedding." /* Dr. Leslie Vandevier, first met in "Crowns of Krim" */

 **Ladyhawk** : "That's good, isn't it?"

 **FD4** : "As my father is fond of telling me, the longer a plan goes without problems the greater the impending catastrophe." (beat) "He picked THAT pearl of wisdom up from his adventuring days." /* his father was the Pulp-Era (1930's) hero "Air Boss" */

 **Ladyhawk** (snorting): "That sounds like something Ted would have said..."

 **FD4** : "Speaking of which, heard anything new from him?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Regularly. He continues to be amazed that Saddam is giving the Coalition time to build up for an actual counterattack."

 **FD4** : "Maybe he's got a surprise up his sleeve."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I hope not... Oh, I'm sorry!"

(uncharacteristically, Julie has managed to bump into a distinguished-looking older gentleman who was backing away from one of the bartender stations around the periphery of the ballroom)

 **Distinguished Man** : "The fault is mine, ma'am. Franklin D. Kramer, President of the Pure Earth Society."

 **Ladyhawk** (taking Franklin's hand): "Julie Dormyer. Acting CEO of ProStar Industries."

 **Franklin** : "Frank Dormyer's girl?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yes, sir!"

 **Franklin** : "How did you get to be Acting CEO?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I'm normally Chairman of the Board, but our CEO's Army Reserve unit got called up for Desert Shield."

 **Franklin** : "That would be Theodore Jameson's boy. Right?"

 **Ladyhawk** (impressed): "Yes, it would!"

 **Franklin** (turning to FD4): "And you are..."

 **FD4** : "Ferris Drake IV. Director of Drake-Victoria's DFW Operations. My plants fulfill PRIMUS' pulson blaster contract."

 **Franklin** : "I see."

 **FD4** : "Didn't you used to be an Undersecretary of Defense or something, sir?"

 **Franklin** (smiling): "You've got your father's intelligence. Good!" (beat, sips his cocktail) "I was Undersecretary of Defense for Paranormal Affairs during the Reagan Administration before its duties were transferred to PRIMUS."

(Julie has gotten her usual Ginger Ale from the bartender while Franklin and Ferris have been talking)

 **Ladyhawk** : "I can't say that I'm familiar with the Pure Earth Society. What is it?"

 **Franklin** : "It started as an environmental group about 10 years ago. Originally more of a grass-roots organization, it grew *enormously* in popularity when it proved to be less progressive than other groups like Greenpeace and PETA."

 **FD4** : "An environmental group for conservatives?"

 **Franklin** : "Conservatives, libertarians, moderates... We welcome people who are just as alarmed about the excesses of environmental activism as they are the damage being done to our world."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Huh. Well how about that." (beat) "Sounds like something ProStar could get behind, considering our fusion reactor line is eliminating the use of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas generation."

 **Franklin** (abruptly): "You're worried about global warming?"

 **Ladyhawk** (confused): "Well, yeah..."

 **Franklin** (agitated): "At least Global Warming is something we can control! But superhumans? A mutant with the power of the sun can go anywhere he wants, blast anything he wants, destroy the delicate ecological balance of an area without even thinking about it..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Let's not use too broad a brush here, shall we? Not all superhumans are mutants..."

 **Franklin** : "But superhuman battles do vast amounts of environmental damage, don't they?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "They could."

 **Franklin** : "So perhaps some form of regulation to prevent that would be in order. Right?"

 **Ladyhawk** (absently): "PRIMUS already provides superhero licensing and sanctioning..."

 **Franklin** : "We need something more robust than the current sanctioning regulations if we are to save our world, Miss Dormyer!" (hands Julie a business card) "Contact my office. We'll be happy to send you literature on exactly what we're proposing."

 **Ladyhawk** (taking the card): "Okay..."

 **Franklin** : "A pleasure meeting you two."

(he walks off into the growing, pre-luncheon crowd. Awkward pause, held gaze between Julie and Ferris)

 **FD4** : "Well, *that* conversation went off into an interesting direction."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Ya THINK?"

(she regards Franklin's business card, face contorted in both confusion and curiosity)

* * *

(The Goat Bar and Grill, Gaston Avenue, Dallas TX. That evening)

 ****(It's 9: 00 on a weeknight, and the regular crowd has filtered in. The door suddenly flies open to reveal Starforce in full kit, silhouetted by the occasional headlights of traffic on Gaston Avenue)

 **Starforce** (to the bouncer, handing him a $5): "Cover charge is $5, right? Please don't tell me I need to show ID to come in."

 **Bouncer** (shocked, but still taking Starforce's money): "Look, man, we don't want no trouble here..."

 **Starforce** : "Relax, I'm just here to talk to somebody." (beat, then cheerfully demented) "Have a nice night!"

(Starforce enters the Goat, and starts to look around with IR and Detect Energy. After a moment, he finally fixates on a door at the back of the bar)

 **Starforce** (over Mind Link): ((several people with pulson energy blaster signatures in the back room. Rest of the bar is clear but inebriated))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((the back room's gotta be VIPER. Get in there and spot the LZ for the rest of the team, I'm a little busy on the infiltration))

 **Starforce** : ((copy that))

(before he gets 10 feet further into The Goat, a seedy-looking man accosts him)

 **Starforce** : "Excuse me?"

 **Casey** : "Got a need? Talk ta' me, man. I run the fastest, loosest deals on the street."

 ****(awkward pause while Starforce easily makes his 'Knowledge Skill: Science Fiction/Fantasy' roll)

 **Starforce** (unimpressed, folding his arms): "Let me guess. That was the only sentence of _Neuromancer_ that you understood, right?"

 **Casey** (beat): "Hey, now..."

(by then, Casey is talking to air. With a gust of wind, Starforce flash-steps to the door he's been trying to look behind in back. He tries the doorknob, and finds it locked)

 **Starforce** : "Seriously?"

(being unusually discreet, he uses a forcebeam at low power to annihilate the door knob and lock. He swings the door open and casually saunters in as the VIPER agents gathered inside draw weapons and the waitress helping them hurriedly ducks behind cover. Tense pause while Starforce scans the room, finally settling on the agent aiming a superheavy blaster at him)

 **Spiritual Warrior** : ((got the LZ. porting in 3... 2...))

 **Starforce** (pointing to the agent as Spiritual Warrior counts the teleport down): "Now THAT probably would have hurt me..."

(the superheavy blaster snaps in two in the agent's grasp. Gasping in shock, the agent lets the remains of his weapon fall to the floor. Pushed Telekinesis FTW)

 **Spiritual Warrior** : ((1...))

 **Starforce** (continuing): "...had I left it intact."

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(Spiritual Warrior, Mr. Bassman, and Sage flash into existence around Starforce. Another tense pause, then someone trying to carry himself as a leader stands up and regards TASK FORCE)

 **Nest Leader** : "Where are Ranger and Ladyhawk?"

 **Female Voice** (from where the waitress dove for cover): "Ranger's busy tonight."

(the VIPER agents turn around, shocked, and find Ladyhawk in full kit regarding them all)

 **Ladyhawk** (coldly): "You wanted to talk to TASK FORCE? We're here. Talk."

(still another tense pause, then the Nest Leader signals his agents. Reluctantly, they holster their weapons and sit down)

 **Nest Leader** : "Conversations are easier when there's less stress."

 **Ladyhawk** (folding her arms): "Agreed."

 **Nest Leader** : "The raid on the Texas Instruments facility on Forest Lane last night? That wasn't VIPER."

 **Ladyhawk** : "The van Starforce and I pursued from there was in VIPER livery..."

 **Nest Leader** (frantic): "It. Wasn't. OURS!!"

 **Sage** (over Mind Link): ((he speaks the truth))

 **Ladyhawk** (to Nest Leader): "Sage confirms you speak the truth."

 **Nest Leader** (relieved): "THANK you!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "You wouldn't happen to have any idea who it was we were actually pursuing last night, would you?"

 **Nest Leader** (beat): "Word on the street is that there are some new players in town. Players with modern equipment who really hate mutants."

 **Ladyhawk** : "And *why* would they want to set VIPER up like they did last night?"

 **Nest Leader** (facepalming): "Gee, I dunno. Probably to DIVERT YOUR ATTENTION from whatever they're attempting to do in Dallas?!?"

(yet another tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "You wouldn't happen to know anything more about these new players, would you?"

 **Nest Leader** : "We would." (beat) "And we'll share that intel with you as long as you leave the Southside alone..."

 **Ladyhawk** (interrupting, coldly): "TASK FORCE doesn't make deals with VIPER."

 **Nest Leader** (beat, shrugging): "Your graves."

 **Ladyhawk** (coldly): "Good. Night." (to Spiritual Warrior) "Pastor?"

(Spiritual Warrior nods)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(only Starforce is left in the back room with VIPER)

 **Starforce** (beat, cheerfully demented while waving): "Toodles!"

(Starforce exits The Goat through the roof. Shingles, plywood, and parts of two ceiling joists rain down on the VIPER agents before they can dive for cover underneath the tables)

* * *

(Over White Rock Lake. Five seconds later)

(Starforce levels off 500 feet over White Rock Lake)

 **Ladyhawk** : ((we see you from the Rally Point, Nerd-boy))

 **Starforce** (cheerfully demented): ((that was fun!! When can we do this again?))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((enthusiast. Meet us back at the Manor...))

(a sensor alarm goes off in Starforce's mask)

 **Starforce** : ((hold one, got something on Detect Energy))

(he alters course lazily to the east side of the lake)

 **Ladyhawk** : ((we don't have time for this, Nerd-boy))

 **Starforce** : ((small theta-boson source just sprang up out of nowhere on East Lawther Drive. Switching to visual...))

(he switches to visual and dials up the digital zoom on his mask)

 **Starforce** (shocked): ((Ninjette, you remember the theta-boson lady from last night?))

 **Ladyhawk** (confused): ((yeah...))

 **Starforce** (circling for a landing on East Lawther Drive): ((she's back!))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((spot an LZ for us!))

 **Starforce** : ((on it))

(he lands on the road in front of the Lady from last night. She is wearing the exact same evening gown from last night, and she is just as wet)

 **Starforce** (looking to the side): ((there, Pastor)) (verbally to the lady) "I came as soon as I saw you. Can I help you?"

 **Woman** : "You have to help me! I don't have much time!"

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(the rest of TASK FORCE flashes into existence on Lawther Drive)

 **Starforce** (to the woman): "Why don't you have much time?"

 **Woman** : "I'm drowning!"

 **Ladyhawk** (deadpan): "Yet here we are on dry land."

 **Sage** : ((her name is Mary Kramer. She's 20 years old and lives on Gaston Avenue with her parents and younger brother Franklin))

 **Ladyhawk** (confused): ((Franklin Kramer? The President of the Pure Earth Society?!?))

 **Starforce** (abruptly): ((what year does she think it is?))

 **Sage** : ((I lack the human cultural reference points to answer that question))

 **Starforce** (annoyed): ((who was President?))

 **Sage** (beat): ((Franklin Delano Roosevelt))

 **Starforce** : ((between 1933 and 1945. Is the United States at war with either Germany or Japan?))

 **Sage** (beat): ((no))

 **Starforce** : ((between 1933 and 1941, then.))

 **Mary** (frantic): "Why aren't you speaking to me?!?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Mary, we're trying to understand what's happening right now. Please be patient..."

 **Mary** (panicked): "There's no TIME to be patient!" (beat) "Wait. How do you know my name?"

 **Sage** (including Mary on the team Mind Link): ((because I can read your mind))

 **Mary** (alarmed, to Sage): ((you're a Martian!!))

 **Starforce** (making his 'KS: Science Fiction/Fantasy' roll): ((Orson Welles, "War of the Worlds", October 1938. Bingo.))

 **Sage** : ((no, I am Varanyi. I am not from Mars but from the other side of what you call the Milky Way Galaxy))

 **Mary** (confused and panicked): "Where am I?!?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "You're still around White Rock Lake in Dallas, but the time is October of 1990."

 **Starforce** : "You're in your future, ma'am."

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Mary** : "Then what's happening to me?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "We don't know yet..."

 **Mary** (strangely): "Help. Meee..."

(there is a strange gurgle to her voice, almost as if she were talking underwater. And just like that, she vanishes)

 **Starforce** : "There's that theta-boson pulse again. Right when she vanished."

(tense pause, held gaze among the members of TASK FORCE)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Spiritual Warrior): "Was she evil?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "No."

 **Sage** : "But she was very frightened."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Was she a ghost, then?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "I've encountered ghosts before. She wasn't one."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Then what WAS she?"

(tense pause)

 **Ladyhawk** : "I don't know."

* * *

(Pure Earth Society Headquarters, Dallas TX. The next day)

(Franklin Kramer and an agent of GENOCIDE walk briskly down a corridor in the top floor of the headquarters)

 **Franklin** : "Are you *sure* TASK FORCE took the bait?"

 **Agent** : "Starforce and Ladyhawk responded to our attack on the Texas Instruments Forest Lane facility two nights ago, but turned around before they reached our prepared ambush."

 **Franklin** : "More's the pity. I really wanted the rest of that team embroiled in a war against VIPER."

 **Agent** : "VIPER is not going to appreciate being set up like this."

 **Franklin** : "Well, boo-hoo. Like I should be upset at the antics of a bunch of clowns in green leotards when there are more important matters to deal with."

(they enter Kramer's office and shut the door)

 **Franklin** : "You had a report for me?"

 **Agent** : "Yes, sir."

(he hands Franklin a holocube as he sits down at his desk. He slots the cube in the reader and selects the widescreen projector for output)

 **Agent** : "What you are about to see is a contingency to the current ops plan against TASK FORCE. It assumes that VIPER will either be unwilling or unable to neutralize TASK FORCE for us, leaving us to do it ourselves."

 **Franklin** (nodding): "Proceed."

 **Agent** (turning to the widescreen): "I will start by explaining the tactical plan to take down each of TASK FORCE's known members, then outline an operational scenario which utilizes these tactics."

(the first slide comes up, showing Ranger at full stride. Various data on Ranger fills the right-hand side of the slide)

 **Agent** : "Ranger has not been seen in the DFW area for two months now. We have two Assaut and two Wildcat Pawns in reserve in case he should make an appearance."

 **Franklin** : "Prudent."

(the slide changes to show an action shot of Ladyhawk martial-kicking some VIPER agents)

 **Agent** : "Ladyhawk is a mutant with powers of temporal visualization who is second in command behind Ranger. I am planning on two Assault Pawns and a Knight. The Knight neutralizes her powers, the Assault Pawns gun her down."

 **Franklin** : "Temporal Visualization is her mutation?"

 **Agent** : "Yes, sir."

 **Franklin** : "Wound her, then throw her into the lake to drown. She needs to suffer the same fate my mutie sister did."

 **Agent** (beat): "Yes, sir."

(the slide changes to show Starforce flying while firing at something offscreen to the left)

 **Agent** : "Two Beamer Pawns should be enough to disrupt Starforce's battlesuit so a Rook can punch him out."

 **Franklin** : "I want him alive and his suit intact. They both may be of use to us."

 **Agent** : "I'll make a note of that, sir."

(the slide changes to show Spiritual Warrior pointing Khereviel at something offscreen right)

 **Agent** : "I have two Strongman Pawns and a Rook planned to keep Spiritual Warrior busy. If we can do that, he will be unable to assist other team-mates who may be in trouble."

 **Franklin** : "Wouldn't a Beamer Pawn be better? He does have magic..."

 **Agent** : "If necessary, one of the Wildcat Pawns in reserve could hit him with a Synpatic Disruptor."

 **Franklin** : "Not good enough. Add two Beamer Pawns to Spiritual Warrior's team."

 **Agent** (notating on his clipboard): "Yes, sir."

(the slide changes to show Mr. Bassman using his powers on something offscreen right)

 **Agent** : "Mr. Bassman is an infrasonic projector and a mutant. Two Beamer Pawns to neutralize his sonic abilities, and a Rook to cave his skull in with a punch."

 **Franklin** : "Good."

(the slide changes to show Sage, looking as annoyed as he always does while exiled to a primitive and barbaric planet)

 **Agent** : "Two Braindrain Pawns should be sufficient to neutralize Sage. After that, we can collect or dispose of him at our leisure."

 **Franklin** : "Will our equipment even work against Varanyi?"

 **Agent** : "We believe it will, sir."

(tense pause)

 **Franklin** : "Good work, son."

 **Agent** : "Thank you, sir."

 **Franklin** : "Now what do we know about TASK FORCE's recent activities?"

 **Agent** : "In addition to the ambush attempt two nights ago, TASK FORCE was observed in the vicinity of White Rock Lake last night. Specifically, East Lawther Drive."

 **Franklin** : "Were they investigating where we had set our trap?"

 **Agent** : "No, sir. They were just north of there."

 **Franklin** : "Odd." (beat) "What type of monitoring on TASK FORCE's activities are we doing?"

 **Agent** : "All Tracker teams are mobile throughout the DFW Metroplex every night. With two mutants on their team, they're pretty easy to track."

(tense pause)

 **Franklin** : "Keep drilling your assets on this contingency. If VIPER won't do the job for us -- and we get a good feel for TASK FORCE's movements -- I want to be ready to execute on six hours' notice."

 **Agent** : "Yes, sir."

 **Franklin** : "Dismissed."

(the agent clicks his heels together, turns smartly around, and leaves Franklin's office. Beat, while Franklin removes the holocube and twirls it absently in his fingers)

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor, Lakewood Village, TX. After work)

(Bob is wearing only gym shorts as he dangles his legs in the pool off the Veranda. Julie walks out hesitantly, wearing a sport bra and shorts herself, still sweating from her Martial Arts workout)

 **Starforce** : "Hey, Ninjette."

(Julie wordlessly sits down next to Bob at the pool's edge)

 **Starforce** : "What's wrong?"

(awkward pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (looking away): "I'm thinking about bulldozing the pool."

 **Starforce** (beat, shocked): "You're kidding. Right?"

 **Ladyhawk** (sad, shaking her head): "No."

(tense pause)

 **Starforce** (abruptly): "You're doing this because VIPER drowned you in Dayton last month, aren't you?"

 **Ladyhawk** (angry and too quickly): "No, I'm not!"

 **Starforce** : "I call bullshit."

(Julie glares at Bob)

 **Starforce** (coldly): "You trust me to fly air cover for your snake-busting missions but you still don't trust me with your deepest fears. Does that about sum it up?"

(beat, then Julie slumps while closing her eyes and looking away)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yes, it's because of Dayton."

 **Starforce** (softly): "Wanna talk about it?"

(long pause)

 **Ladyhawk** (softly): "I grew up loving the water. I set records on my high school swim team in Japan. I looked forward to my freediving vacations around Okinawa."

 **Starforce** (beat, softly): "Go on."

 **Ladyhawk** : "And then VIPER tied me to weights last month and dropped me 10 feet underwater to drown."

 **Starforce** (indicating the pool): "And because VIPER did that to you, you now have to destroy one of the things you enjoy about your life?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "VIPER forcibly took away something I liked!"

 **Starforce** : "Then VIPER is now living in your head rent-free."

 **Ladyhawk** (confused): "What?"

 **Starforce** : "You loved swimming underwater, probably as much as I do. VIPER turned that against you to kill you last month."

 **Ladyhawk** : "So?"

 **Starforce** : "Bulldoze your pool, and VIPER will have won just as surely as if they had actually succeeded in killing you up in Dayton."

(amazed pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** (intense): "Don't. Let. Them. Win."

(Tense pause, held gaze. Julie breaks it by leaning forward and kissing Bob quickly on the cheek)

 **Ladyhawk** (softly): "Thank you, Nerd-boy."

 **Starforce** : "You're welcome." (beat) "So you're not gonna bulldoze the pool?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Not any more. Not if doing it means that VIPER wins."

 **Starforce** (smiling): "Good."

(tender pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Besides, you just wanna have sex with me 12 feet underwater someday. Right?"

(awkward pause while Bob blushes furiously)

 **Starforce** (awkwardly): "Maybe?"

(beat, then they both laugh. Long pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "Are you still having the nightmares?"

 **Ladyhawk** (hesitant): "Yes." (beat) "I see fire. I hear screams. I feel sheer terror."

 **Starforce** : "You were drowned at Dayton, not burned alive..."

 **Ladyhawk** (interrupting, angry): "I'm not seeing what happened to me!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** (confused): "Then what *are* you seeing?"

 **Ladyhawk** (hesitant): "I... don't know."

 **Starforce** : "Hell?"

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): "You're kidding. Right?"

 **Starforce** : "You *were* technically dead until I resuscitated you."

 **Ladyhawk** (shocked): "But that would mean Christian theology is correct!"

 **Starforce** (deadpan): "Scary thought, isn't it?"

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Starforce** : "I'm not the person you need to be talking to in order to answer those questions. Kent is."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Is that your church-going small-town Indiana background talking, Nerd-boy?"

 **Starforce** : "Indianapolis isn't a small town, Ninjette."

(beat, then they both chuckle)

* * *

(Over White Rock Lake. that evening, approximately 9 PM)

(Starforce is flying over White Rock Lake. Ladyhawk, Spiritual Warrior, and Sage are on East Lawther Drive in the last location they encountered Mary Kramer)

 **Starforce** : ((no theta-boson source yet))

 **Ladyhawk** (beat): ((Sage, anything?))

 **Sage** (beat): ((nothing))

 **Starforce** : ((Bowser may have had the right idea, taking a paying gig tonight instead of trying to find our ghost))

 **Spiritual Warrior** : ((if we're not going to be up too late tonight, I'd like to get to the _Dallas Morning News_ and check out their microfiche library on Ms. Kramer tomorrow morning))

 **Starforce** : ((and I'd like to take some more runs with my theta-boson sensors tonight to understand exactly what's happening here)) (beat, muttered) ((I don't know which is harder to believe. That Mary's a ghost or that her brain can generate theta-bosons))

 **Sage** : ((you grossly underestimate the powers of the sentient mind))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((so are you telling us that the Varanyi have ghost stories?))

(fascinated pause as Ladyhawk and Spiritual Warrior look intently at Sage)

 **Sage** (awkwardly): ((maybe))

(everyone laughs over the mind link)

 **Starforce** (buzzer going off inside his mask): ((Showtime, people. Mary just showed up))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((Spot the LZ and meet us there!))

 **Starforce** : ((on it))

(He spirals down toward the north end of East Lawther Drive. All of TASK FORCE are still blissfully unaware of the two Tracker Pawns from GENOCIDE hiding beyond the bike path and monitoring them)

* * *

(Pure Earth Society Headquarters. Two days later)

(Franklin is talking with a GENOCIDE Cyborg Knight as a GENOCIDE Tracker Pawn enters with a clipboard)

 **Franklin** (to the Pawn): "Report?"

 **Pawn** : "It's a definite trend. TASK FORCE has been at the exact same site on East Lawther Drive each night for the past three nights."

 **Franklin** : "Any specific time?"

 **Pawn** : "Generally about 9 PM."

 **Franklin** : "Any idea what they're looking for?"

 **Pawn** : "Unknown, sir. The sensors sometimes get an intermittent trace for three mutants whenever they are there."

 **Knight** (female voice): "Yet TASK FORCE only has two mutants."

 **Franklin** : "All the more reason to be careful."

(tense pause)

 **Franklin** (to the Knight): "The order is given. Prepare your assault force and move out."

 **Knight** (nodding): "At once, sir."

(the Knight stalks out of Franklin's office, leaving the Pawn with him. Tense pause)

 **Franklin** : "Have two Tracker Pawns in a sniper's nest where they can monitor tonight's ambush without being seen. If TASK FORCE is somehow able to defeat our assault force, I want to know how they did it."

 **Pawn** : "Yes, sir."

(the Pawn nods and leaves. Beat)

 **Franklin** : "GENOCIDE has spent all this money on their cyborgs and powered armor and equipment. It's time we found out whether it was all worth it."

* * *

****(Stately Dormyer Manor. After work that afternoon)

(TASK FORCE is gathered in the Great Room for a mission briefing. Shina has just finished drink service to everyone)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Okay, people. What do we know?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "I spent most of the last two days over at the _Dallas Morning News_ looking through microfiche for anything on Mary Kramer." (beat, hands out a sheet of copy paper from the folder he had been carrying) "I found this."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "An obituary?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Dated November 2nd, 1938. She was a 20-year old socialite associated with an upper-class family in Dallas society of that era. Her younger brother Franklin reported her as falling into White Rock Lake during a boat ride the night of October 31st, and her body was recovered on November 1st."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Wait, Franklin Kramer?" (beat) "Franklin D. Kramer?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Yes. Why?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "He's the President of the Pure Earth Society, which is based locally. I met him at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the beginning of the week."

 **Starforce** (softly): "Imagine that."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Okay, then. What about the ghost reports?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "I followed up on some things older members of the Carrollton Park Church congregation told me about the Metroplex while I was at the _Morning News_. There have been persistent stories for decades of a ghost in a wet evening gown who appears on East Lawther Drive and always vanishes after a couple of minutes leaving nothing but a puddle of water."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Do you know when the first documented report was?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** (beat, strangely): "Funny you should ask that. The first documented instance was a police report filed the night of December 23rd, 1961." (hands another sheet to Julie) "You may recognize the citizens who filed it."

(beat, then Julie's jaw flies open in shock)

 **Ladyhawk** (shocked): "Mommy and Daddy?!?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** (unusually deadpan): "The Dormyer surname is not that common in the DFW area. Especially when combined with a Japanese first name."

 **Ladyhawk** (murmurmed, reading the police report further): "Mommy would have been pregnant with me when this happened..."

 **Sage** : "How many times has this... 'ghost'... been seen?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Several dozen times over the past three decades. I didn't take an exact count."

 **Mr, Bassman** : "There could have been other occurrences which weren't witnessed by anyone."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "That is a distinct possibility."

(Awkward pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (looking at Bob): "Okay, Nerd-boy, it's now time for a cold splash of scientific realism."

 **Starforce** (beat): "You may be at the wrong briefing for that, Ninjette."

 **Ladyhawk** : "You're kidding me."

 **Starforce** (to all of TASK FORCE): "Mary's theta-boson signature has disturbed me for days. I finally figured out why when Kent supplied her date of death."

(taptaptap at the keyboard on the coffee table, then the largescreen TV shows a vertical oval, red at the bottom and blue at the top. The top segments don't quite connect, and there is a slight but noticeable discontinuity at the bottom which leaves them connected but uneven)

 **Starforce** : "Assuming a start date of October 31st, 1938 and an end date of last night, the the 5-dimensional phase-space diagram of the theta-bosons forms a strange-attractor limited loop between our past and our present."

(expressions of shock echo among the rest of TASK FORCE)

 **Ladyhawk** : "How can you be sure of this?"

 **Starforce** (taptaptap): "Because it looks like THIS."

(an almost identical vertical loop appears next to Mary's theta-boson signature on the TV. Except the bottom end of this one is labled "September 1944" and the top end is labeled "April 1986")

 **Starforce** (continuing): "*This* is the closed time-like loop Michael Renton and I set up in human history using Die Glocke to facilitate our retrieval from World War II four years ago." /* "Greatest Generation" */

 **Ladyhawk** (gasping): "Oh, my God!"

 **Starforce** (dispassionately): "If I had to guess, Mary Kramer had powers of temporal manipulation which manifested during her drowning in October 1938."

 **Sage** : "If she projected herself forward in time, why didn't she escape her fate in your past?"

 **Starforce** (shaking his head): "Not sure. Perhaps something happened to pull her back to 1938 and the moment of her death?"

 **Ladyhawk** (making a Deduction roll): "How long has Mary's appearance in the present been on average?"

 **Starforce** : "Uhh... just under three minutes, every time I've been able to measure it."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Why three minutes?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "That's roughly how long you can hold your breath underwater before you drown." (beat, grim) "I have some recent experience with that number." /* "The City That VIPER Built" */

 **Starforce** (beat, small voice): "Oh."

 **Ladyhawk** (grim): "She gets thrown underwater in 1938. Her powers activate, she projects herself forward in time blindly. Three minutes later, she drowns and rubber-bands back to 1938 just before she ends up underwater." (beat) "Lather, rinse, repeat."

(shocked pause)

 **Mr. Bassman** (beat, shakes his head): "What a way to go."

 **Ladyhawk** : "Yeah."

 **Starforce** : "Wait a minute. That would require her to be physically present in 1938 to drown while astral-projecting herself into the future or something."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "So?"

 **Starforce** : "I grabbed her with Telekinesis 3 nights ago. I physically held her. She was physically present in 1990!"

 **Mr. Bassman** (suddenly): "Do you have flight recorder video of Mary?"

 **Starforce** : "Uh, yeah..."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Bring it up."

 **Starforce** (taptaptap): "Sure."

(beat, then video from Starforce's battlesuit displays for a long moment. Tense pause)

 **Mr. Bassman** (abruptly): "She's not breathing while in the present."

 **Ladyhawk** (not understanding): "Yet she talked with us..."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "She's a ghost. Perhaps she didn't study the laws of Nature?"

(a brief titter of laughter circulates through the Dining Room)

 **Starforce** (absently): "Perhaps some quantum bilocation phenomenon caused by the influence of the theta-bosons?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** (abruptly): "Is she trapped?"

 **Starforce** (beat): "Technically, yes. The time loop doesn't precisely repeat itself, but she can't seem to break it of her own volition."

 **Spiritual Warrior** (decisively): "Because you're thinking of Mary's problem scientifically, not spiritually."

(awkward pause)

 **Starforce** (slowly): "You're not thinking she's stuck in this loop because she isn't saved yet?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "That's *exactly* what I'm thinking. God is giving Mary one final yet repeated chance to accept Jesus' sacrifice for her sins!"

 **Starforce** (amazed and shocked): "Can she accept Salvation in three minutes?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Let's find out."

* * *

(East Lawther Drive. Approximately 9 PM)

(GENOCIDE's attack force is hidden from Lawther Drive behind the Big Thicket Shelter. One of the Assault Pawns is looking at a shooting star flying southbound lazily above White Rock Lake)

 **Agent** (murmured): "If we only knew what they were looking for, we probably could have faked it and drawn them in..."

 **Knight** (murmured, interrupting): "Cut the chatter."

(tense pause)

 **Agent** (murmured): "180 to the left. He should be close to the eastern shore on this pass."

(the Knight points a cyborg arm at two Pawns and points out into East Lawther Drive. They nod and go stand in the road, pointing their rifles up at the approaching shooting star that's now northbound and closer to the shore)

 **Agent** (murmured): "In range..." (beat) "Now."

 **Knight** (to the Pawns in the road): "Fire!"

* * *

(Eastern shore, White Rock Lake. One second later)

 **Starforce** (singing to Darth Vader's Theme over the mind link): ((bored bored bored bored-bore-bored bored-bore-bored...))

 **Mr. Bassman** : ((don't quit your day job))

 **Starforce** : ((I don't see *you* up here flying racetrack patterns looking for Mary's theta-boson signature...))

(alarms suddenly buzz for attention in his mask)

 **Starforce** : ((energy traces, electrogravitic... aimed at ME?!?))

 **Ladyhawk** (concerned): ((where from?))

 **Starforce** : ((north of the yacht club, close to the Big Thicket shelter. Force Modulation system is down to 67 percent...)) (more buzzers sound in his mask) ((now they've got a TRACTOR BEAM on me? I haven't been this popular in years!!))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((can you compensate?))

 **Starforce** : ((I think so, but that's less forcefield available to block punches or blaster fire...))

 **Mr. Bassman** : ((shouldn't we be going to help him?))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((my Danger Sense started screaming the moment he was attacked. That's EXACTLY what they want us to do))

 **Starforce** : ((so what's the play, Ninjette? Let 'em think they have me, then let 'em have it?))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((got it in one, Nerd-boy))

 **Starforce** : ((good, because I'm just about on the ground now))

(Starforce can now see what appear to be two agents to either side of where he is being forced to land, playing beams from their rifles over him. Someone wearing a suit of powered armor more primitive than what Starforce wears is standing with them, projecting the tractor beam that helped bring him down.))

 **Starforce** : "I was expecting more of a reception committee if you went to all this effort."

(The agent on the right stops shooting his rifle at him, grabs what appears to be a large flashlight from his belt, and fires it. Starforce is now surrounded by a shimmery, transparent haze)

 **Starforce** : ((just got bubbled in some sort of containment field, appears to reflect energy only. I won't be able to use any ranged attacks until I can break out of it...))

 **Ladyhawk** (interrupting, sarcastically): ((you can still punch, can't you?))

 **Starforce** (cheerfully demented): ((or I could listen to my team leader instead!!))

(turning his tractor beam off, the powered-armor wearer walks up to Starforce. If one knew what to look for beneath the force bubble trapping him, you would see Starforce's forcefield ripple as he reallocates it to 15 PD/15 ED/30 Power Defense)

(Inside his mask, Starforce sees various diagnostics on his suit climb from yellow back into green. He smiles)

 **Rook 1** (to Starforce): "Why are you smiling, mutie-lover?"

 **Starforce** : "Because you have me *exactly* where I want you."

(achieving surprise in combat, Starforce hits with a 25d6 force-augmented Martial Punch. As if life wasn't unfair enough already for Rook #1, having only a DCV of 7 versus Starforce's current OCV of 16, Starforce just rolled a critical hit. Rook 1 is unconscious even before his knockback destroys the Big Thicket shelter concealing the rest of the assault force and the Hummvee that brought them)

 **Ladyhawk** : ((THERE, Pastor!!))

 **Starforce** (to the surviving GENOCIDE agents, voice ringing yet menacing): "If you start running now, I'll let you all live."

(Starforce 10d6 Presence Attack on the GENOCIDE force [base 30 PRE, +3d6 for Incredibly Violent Action, +1d6 for Good Soliloquy, +1d6 for Exhibiting his powers, -1d6 for being in combat] gets 40 points of effect. Every Pawn that isn't in the Hummvee [PRE+30] drops their weapons and runs for their lives. The Knight [PRE+20] is at half DCV and has lost her action this phase. Both remaining Rooks [PRE+10] will be acted upon by TASK FORCE before either of them can fight back)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(As if GENOCIDE's plan wasn't enough of a Charlie-Foxtrot at the current moment, Spiritual Warrior's teleport drops the rest of TASK FORCE behind the Knight and 2 Rooks)

(Spiritual Warrior is already swinging with Khereviel as he is rematerializing. He hits Rook #2 for 1 BODY and 1 STUN after defenses)

(Mr. Bassman inhales, and hits Rook #3. His suit of powered armor shatters all around him, leaving a frightened GENOCIDE agent standing in a parking lot in his underwear)

(Sage notices Rook #2 attempting to bring his blaster gauntlet to bear on Spiritual Warrior now that he got Rook #2's attention)

 **Sage** (eyes glowing): ((I don't think so))

(one hit with Mental Paralysis later, and Rook #2 is quite unable to move)

(While all this is happening, Ladyhawk half-moves over to the Knight while taking out her billy clubs. She hits the Knight with both of them for 26 STUN and 19 STUN after defenses. The Knight's visible organic eye glazes over, and she drops unconscious)

(tense pause, held gaze among the members of TASK FORCE, punctuated only by the gasp of former Rook #3 getting mentally paralyzed by Sage. Starforce takes the opportunity to blow out of his containment field with a force beam)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Is everyone okay?"

(there are nods and murmured acknowledgements from everyone else. The team gathers at a parking lot on the lakeward side of East Lawther Drive with a dock extending out into the lake)

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Who WERE these people?"

 **Starforce** (bluntly): "Amateurs." (beat, looking at the weapons left behind by the Pawns): "VIPER puts up a better fight than this!"

 **Ladyhawk** : "Call it in, Nerd-boy. Maybe PRIMUS knows something about these people that we..." (Danger Sense screams) "HUMMVEE!!!"

(the roar of an engine and the squeal of abused tires comes almost at the same time as Ladyhawk's warning. To TASK FORCE's horror, the Knight is not only NOT lying down where Ladyhawk had knocked her unconscious, she is now driving the Hummvee straight toward Ladyhawk. Mr. Bassman, unable to quite get out of the way in time, is clipped by the front bumper and thrown across the dock's parking lot, hurt)

 **Starforce** (forcefield rippling while flash-stepping between Ladyhawk and the Hummvee): "SHIIII..."

(the Hummvee hits Starforce. His forcefield reallocated entirely to PD and his fists now within the radiator, he uses Combat Acceleration on his flight to come to a stop while lifting. The Hummvee sails out of his grasp and into the air, tumbling, and splashes down hard into White Rock Lake just beyond the dock)

 **Mr. Bassman** (incredulous yet in pain, to Starforce): "Did you just *judo* *throw* a TRUCK?!?"

 **Starforce** (small voice while looking at the rapidly-sinking Hummvee): "Guess I don't know my own strength."

 **Sage** (uncharacteristically alarmed): ((MISS DORMYER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?))

(to their horror, the rest of TASK FORCE looks up to see Ladyhawk running down the dock)

 **Ladyhawk** : ((I HAVE to do this!!))

(leaping off the dock at full sprint, she dives underwater toward the now-sunken Hummvee)

 **Starforce** (horrified): "JULIE!!!"

 **Sage** (to Starforce): "There are four agents trapped in that Hummvee with the cyborg."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "They'll drown!"

 **Starforce** (through gritted teeth): "Dammit!!"

(he flies up into the air, jacknifes in mid-air, and follows Ladyhawk into the lake)

* * *

(underneath White Rock Lake. One second later)

(The Hummvee has settled upside-down on the bottom of White Rock Lake and has completely flooded inside. The Pawns who somehow remained conscious through the Hummvee's judo toss struggle futilely with the back doors. Through the shattered windshield, the Knight slowly swims out -- leaving the Pawns to their fate)

 **Knight** (internal monologue): [[swim leisurely at the bottom of the lake to the other side and call base when I come back up. Piece of...]]

 ****(she never thought to make sure she was alone on the lake bottom. Hiding on top of the SUV and having both "Environmental Movement: No Penalties Underwater" and 2 more meters of swimming per phase, Ladyhawk has just caught up with her and, getting surprise out of combat, hits for 11 STUN after defenses)

(flailing blindly with her wrist claws [2d6 APx2], the Knight hits Ladyhawk for 2 BODY and 10 STUN. Blood stains the water and a brief scream of pain bubbles from her lips)

* * *

(crashed Hummvee underneath White Rock Lake. Simultaneous with previous scene)

(it only takes a breathholding Starforce one second to locate the Hummvee, and another second to fly underwater over to the rear doors. He can hear frantic pounding from the inside)

(hauling off, he uses a force-augmented Martial Punch to destroy the rear door. One Pawn swims out; Starforce looks in and sees three unconscious Pawns but no Knight)

 **Starforce** (internal monologue): [[dammit, Julie... have to get the last one on the next trip]]

(he grabs the two closest Pawns and rockets toward the surface)

* * *

(the bottom of White Rock Lake. One second later)

(Ladyhawk's Joint Lock / Throw maneuver has immobilized the Knight's arm containing the blades for 10 more STUN. The strain of wrestling with the Knight causes a quick burst of bubbles to come out of her mouth)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[gonna run out of air if I keep fighting her like this...]]

(he Knight is struggling against Ladyhawk with her other arm, trying to reach a button on an external harness over her torso)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[WHY is she interested in reaching that button?]]

(thinking quickly, she pushes her STR and yanks the Knight's left hand down to her Utility belt. Before the Knight realizes it, Ladyhawk has released her arm and grabbed the Billy Club on that side of the belt. She barely beats the Knight to the button, jamming the billy club up against the button and firing one charge of the taser for 12 STUN to the Knight)

(Harness now crawling with electricity, the Knight bubbles out a scream of her own. Pushing *her* STR, she finally flips Ladyhawk free of her)

(Making her Acrobatics roll, Ladyhawk twists almost impossibly in the water in front of the Knight, *both* hands now full of billy clubs. Her reflexes still faster than the Knight, she jams both of them to each temple of the Knight's head and triggers a taser discharge from each for a total of 23 STUN. With another screamed burst of bubbles, the Knight goes limp and drifts to the bottom of the lake)

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, internal monologue): [[she came to awfully quick that first fight]]

(swimming down to the Knight's body, Ladyhawk whacks her again with both billy clubs for 17 and 15 more STUN after defenses)

 **Ladyhawk** (internal monologue): [[there]]

(Ladyhawk feels her chest spasm for lack of air. Putting her billy clubs away, she grabs the body of the Knight with one hand and laboriously swims for the surface of the lake)

(with a very grateful gasp of air, Ladyhawk finally breaks the surface. Catching her breath, she locates Starforce frantically flying a search grid overhead)

 **Ladyhawk** (pained): "Nerd-boy! A little help down here?"

(Starforce flash-steps instantly to a hover directly over Ladyhawk)

 **Starforce** (angry): "Ninjette, what the HELL were you thinking?!?"

 **Ladyhawk** (treading water): "That I couldn't let the cyborg get away, and that I needed to get over what VIPER did to me in Dayton last month!"

(Starforce now registers that the blood in the water around Ladyhawk is hers)

 **Starforce** (alarmed): "Oh my God! Are you hurt?"

 **Ladyhawk** (smiling while hoisting the Knight above the surface with her): "You should see the other guy."

(beat)

 **Starforce** (shaking his head): "I *never* want to hear you accuse me of testosterone poisoning again."

(using his Telekinesis, he fishes Ladyhawk and the Knight out of the water)

* * *

(East Lawther Drive. 30 minutes later)

(PRIMUS agents swarm the battlefield, taking pictures and evidence. By the shore of the lake, Spiritual Warrior assists two PRIMUS Iron Guard agents in pulling the crashed Hummvee out of the lake. Starforce walks two technicians through the dump of his flight recorder over by one of the PRIMUS Hummvees, and Sage briefs two more technicians. A powerfully-built man in PRIMUS Silver Avenger kit walks up to Ladyhawk, who is supervising the madhouse while also making sure EMT's are taking care of Mr. Bassman's bandaged leg)

 **Silver Avenger** (to Ladyhawk): "Ladyhawk?"

(she turns, and her mask moves in a way suggesting her eyebrows are raised behind it)

 **Ladyhawk** : "Here! You must be the new Silver Avenger being assigned to DFW!"

 **Silver Avenger** (offering his hand): "Silver Avenger Charles Bashang at your service."

 **Ladyhawk** (taking his hand and shaking it): "I thought you weren't supposed to arrive until next year..."

 **Bashang** (smiling): "Fiscally speaking, it *is* next year."

 **Ladyhawk** (gently facepalming while chuckling): "Oh, right."

 **Bashang** (indicating the flurry of activity on and around Lawther Drive): "Your people seem to know what my people need after a superbattle has been fought."

 **Ladyhawk** : "We've had a good working relationship with the local PRIMUS detachment since we started. We know what you need for a successful prosecution."

 **Bashang** (impressed): "Good!"

(he sees a hint of apprehension cross Ladyhawk's face)

 **Bashang** (continuing): "Ma'am, if you're worried that things are going to change between your team and PRIMUS now that there's a new sherriff in town, don't. I DON'T believe in fixing things that aren't broken."

(Ladyhawk relaxes immediately. Silver Avenger Bashang's guess on Ladyhawk's concern was correct)

 **Bashang** (motioning toward Starforce): "Let's go talk to the techs."

 **Ladyhawk** (turning to Mr. Bassman): "Gonna be okay?"

 **Mr. Bassman** : "Yah, mon. Go!"

(Ladyhawk smiles, then they walk over to the Hummvee. Bashang waits for a moment, then Starforce excuses himself and joins them)

 **Starforce** : "Hope you don't mind. They're not complete with the field analysis of my flight recorder and don't want to be interrupted."

 **Bashang** : "What can you tell me about who you fought?"

 **Starforce** : "Well, they definitely weren't VIPER. Energy spectrum from the pulson blasters was all wrong. *Plus* their kit was radically different from what VIPER usually fields, even in DFW."

 **Bashang** : "Such as?"

 **Starforce** : "In addition to projectile miniguns and electrogravitic disruptors, their weapons had a VERY heavy emphasis on neurokinesis."

 **Bashang** (beat): "Could Biomaster be supplying them?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "From Stronghold? Hardly. Besides, when he weaponizes neurokinesis, he always builds one-offs."

 **Starforce** : "The weapons we were almost up against were mass-produced."

 **Bashang** : "The powered armor? The cyborg?"

 **Starforce** : "The powered armor was more powerful than an Iron Guard suit, and of a type I'd never seen before. Took a full-powered Force Punch to destroy it." (beat, locates and indicates the still body of the Knight) "THAT, on the other hand is just plain disturbing to look at."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce): "You didn't have to fight her."

 **Bashang** : "When did she die?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "She was alive when I knocked her out underwater, she was still alive when I surfaced with her, she was dead before Starforce could fly the two of us to shore."

 **Starforce** : "I monitored a radio transmission on an unusual frequency just before the cyborg died."

 **Bashang** : "A kill switch?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "One more literal than any I've ever encountered."

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk): "What about Biomaster's dinosaurs last year?" /* "Jurassic City" */

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce, annoyed): "Shut up."

(one of the techies that was talking with Sage runs over to Bashang)

 **Agent** : "Sage's deposition is complete."

 **Bashang** (to the agent): "And?"

 **Agent** : "Short version, sir? We need a warrant for a complete search-and-seizure of the Pure Earth Society's headquarters."

(shocked pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (amazed): "If anyone could afford weapons purchases on this scale, they could!"

 **Bashang** : "Next question. Why attack TASK FORCE?"

 **Agent** : "Sage reported very strong anti-mutant prejudices in everyone he probed."

 **Ladyhawk** (grim): "And Mr. Bassman and I just happen to be mutants."

 **Agent** (to Ladyhawk): "The specific parts of the attack force which targeted both you and Mr. Bassman had orders to kill both of you." (beat, to Starforce) "Your attackers had orders to capture your suit intact and bring you in preferably alive."

 **Starforce** (small voice): "Well, *there's* a cheery thought."

 **Bashang** : "How did they know to find TASK FORCE here tonight?"

 **Agent** : "They had been tracking TASK FORCE nightly for almost a week and had noticed that they had been very interested in this specific location each night."

 **Bashang** (beat): "I see. Thank you, agent."

 **Agent** : "Sir!"

(he salutes and runs off. Awkward pause, held gaze between Bashang and Ladyhawk)

 **Bashang** : "So what has TASK FORCE been investigating on East Lawther Drive the past week?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "A private investigation into something we didn't want to trouble PRIMUS with..."

(she stumbles to a halt, having just made a Deduction roll based on Sage's mind-probe)

 **Ladyhawk** (continuing, eyes widening): "...until right now!"

 **Bashang** (motioning Ladyhawk to continue): "Which would be..."

 **Ladyhawk** : "A cold case from 1938 that I just realized is connected to what just happened tonight!"

 **Bashang** (confused): "Excuse me?"

 **Ladyhawk** (coldly): "When you serve your warrant on the Pure Earth Society, ask Mr. Kramer what REALLY happened the night his sister died." (beat) "And be prepared to arrest him for her murder."

* * *

(East Lawther Drive. The next night)

(Spiritual Warrior is talking with Mary while holding her hands. The rest of TASK FORCE waits anxiously 20 feet away)

 **Ladyhawk** : ((how much longer?))

 **Starforce** : ((30 seconds before the time-loop snaps her back. There should have been a quicker way of getting Kent to her when she materialized))

 **Mr. Bassman** : ((it only took 5 seconds from when you spotted her to when he started talking))

 **Sage** : ((seconds matter when you only have 3 minutes))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((cut the chatter, something's happening))

(TASK FORCE sees Mary suddenly embrace Spiritual Warrior. She seems to be both crying and smiling)

 **Mr. Bassman** : ((did he succeed?))

(and just like that, Mary is gone)

 **Starforce** : ((theta-boson pulse... huh, that's different))

 **Ladyhawk** : ((what's different))

 **Starforce** : ((this pulse was... gentle compared to what I've seen every other time she's returned to 1938))

(by now, Spiritual Warrior has joined the rest of the team)

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "That has to be the *quickest* I have ever walked someone through the Roman Road!"

(Starforce, being the only other person on the team who understands that reference, snorts in humor)

 **Ladyhawk** : "And Mary?"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "She is at peace. Finally."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "So that's the end of the Ghost of White Rock Lake?"

 **Starforce** : "Not exactly."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "I led her in the prayer of salvation! I felt her release from her self-imposed curse..."

 **Starforce** : "Her life may have finally ended, but... I can't even BEGIN to guess how many times she looped over the last three minutes of her life before that!" (beat) "Let alone *when* all of the end points of her time loop dropped her."

 **Ladyhawk** : "My parents saw her in 1961. Somebody in, say, 2018 may see her. Each surge of adrenaline that activated her powers when she was pushed into the lake in 1938 was probably different, which would cause her to manifest in a different year each time."

 **Mr. Bassman** : "But if each loop went to a random year, how come she remembered us each night this week?"

 **Sage** : "I believe once she understood her situation and that we were trying to help her, she attempted to gain some control over her powers. She seemed less panicked each successive night we encountered her."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "She was ready for her ordeal to end."

 **Ladyhawk** (beat, small voice): "That must have seemed like Hell to her!"

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "She admitted as much to me before she was saved."

 **Ladyhawk** : "I don't think I'm going to complain about my Dayton nightmares anymore..."

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk): "You should do something about that, you know."

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (exasperated): "I'm not a religious person!"

 **Starforce** (to Ladyhawk): "Neither am I."

 **Ladyhawk** : "You got *that* straight, Nerd-boy!"

 **Starforce** (sighing while rolling his eyes): "Jesus died for your sins, same as He did for mine. The least you can do is accept His sacrifice and let Him into your life."

 **Ladyhawk** (to Starforce, amazed): "Seriously?"

 **Starforce** (softly): "Heaven won't be the same without you, Ninjette."

(long pause, held gaze)

 **Ladyhawk** (to Spiritual Warrior): "What do I have to do, again?"

* * *

**EPILOGUE**. WFAA Evening News, October 26th, 1990

 **Anchor** : "FBI and PRIMUS agents executed a federal search warrant on a popular and influential environmental activism group after the investigation of a recent superbattle took an unexpected... and alarming turn. Juan Alvarez has more from the Pure Earth Society Headquarters building in Dallas."

 **Juan** : "Thanks, Phil. Until today, the Pure Earth Society stood as a respected pillar of local and national society, an environmental movement praised by some for its acceptance of conservative- and free-market solutions to today's environmental problems."

(footage of the raid earlier that day, with PRIMUS and FBI agents)

 **Juan** (voice-over): "That pillar crumbled today as federal agents from the FBI and PRIMUS served a search-and-seizure warrant on their headquarters in downtown Dallas. I had a chance to speak with PRIMUS Silver Avenger Charles Bashang before we went on the air tonight, and he had this to say."

(previously-recorded interview with Silver Avenger Bashang)

 **Bashang** : "Two nights ago, the local superhero group TASK FORCE was ambushed during an unrelated investigation near White Rock Lake by a previously-unknown group of superpowered agents new to the Metroplex. Based on our interrogation of the prisoners they took and an examination of the equipment they had confiscated, we had probable cause to believe the local chapter of the Pure Earth Society had been responsible for attacking TASK FORCE..."

* * *

(Carrollton Park Church, Carrollton, TX. Second service, October 28th, 1990)

(Kent is in the Baptismal at Carrollton Park Church. Bob and Shina stand off to one side on dry land, waiting)

 **Spiritual Warrior** (to the congregation): "We have one more person to baptize whom we were able to work in at the last second." (looks off to the other side) "Julie?"

(Julie enters the Baptismal and stands next to Kent)

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Many of you recognize Julie Dormyer from the Business Section of the _Dallas Morning News_ or the cover of _Fortune_ magazine. I first met her as the landlady for our Church Pianist, Bob Hawkins..."

(Bob smiles shyly and waves)

 **Shina** (murmured): "Behave."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "After nearly dying during a business trip last month, Julie started asking some tough questions about where she was going to spend Eternity. I'm happy today to tell you that she has her answers."

(applause across the Sanctuary)

 **Spiritual Warrior** (to Julie): "Julie, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?"

 **Ladyhawk** : "I have."

 **Spiritual Warrior** : "Then by your confession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

(he dunks Julie under the water of the baptismal, then pulls her back to her feet. Applause and cheers spread throughout the Sanctuary as she smiles and makes her way to the stairs out of the baptismal)

(Bob is at the top of the stairs to help her out as Shina holds a towel. She takes Bob's hand, then pauses while a mischievous expression crosses her face)

 **Starforce** : "Don't you DARE, Ninjette! I've already *been* baptized..."

(she laughs, leaps out of the baptistry, and hugs Bob -- still soaking wet. Laughter now sounds across the Sanctuary, then again when Bob takes her towel and uses it to dry himself off instead)

* * *

(East Lawther Drive, Dallas TX. That evening)

(a car veers to a stop along the southbound curb, bumping inexpertly up against it as if the driver was drunk. The PoV looks into the car, and we see that it's Franklin Kramer. There is a half-drunk bottle of cheap whiskey in one of his hands, and he is oh so very drunk. Long pause, then he fumbles with the car stereo. After a moment, the CD player turns on and begins playing what's loaded)

 **CD Player** : "This is Jeff. You just HAD to go and screw the pooch, didn't you? Everything my father planned, everything I've BUILT since he was murdered is now *jeopardized* because you took a swing at a superhero group AND MISSED!"

(beat while Franklin takes another pull from the whiskey bottle)

 **CD Player** (continuing): "But no problem. My father taught me how to turn weakness into strength. Thanks to the anonymous tip which just landed at the PRIMUS DFW office, you're history! By this time tomorrow, the Pure Earth Society will fire you as their director for how you expended their resources to put together what they'll believe were *your* cyborgs and agents and powered-armor troops! You'll swing for what everyone thinks you've done while I continue to fulfill my father's vision of a mutant-free world!"

(Franklin takes another swig of whiskey and coughs as it tries to go down the wrong way)

 **CD Player** (continuing while Franklin coughs): "If you can take heart in anything that's happened as a result of your misdeeds, your attack on TASK FORCE gave us valuable data on how we need to improve our agents and equipment. For that, I thank you."

(Franklin finally stops coughing)

 **CD Player** (continuing): "Goodbye, Frank. Maybe you'll have the guts to do the honorable thing before PRIMUS serves their warrant on you..."

(drunk and angry, Franklin ejects the CD from the car CD player. He grabs it, throws the door of his car open, and stumbles around the front of his car to face White Rock Lake. Beat, then he throws the CD into the lake as hard as he can)

 **Franklin** (to the CD as it splashes into the lake): "Fuck you, Andevers. Fuck you and your goddamn father."

(he stumbles back to his car and fumbles around inside for a moment before he produces a handgun. He looks at it for a moment before unsteadily making his way to the front bumper of his car and sitting on it. Long pause)

 **Voice** (behind Franklin): "Frank?"

(Franklin turns unsteadily. Mary is standing in the middle of the street, wearing the evening gown she had on when she had been pushed into the lake back in 1938 and dripping wet)

 **Mary** : "My God, you've gotten old."

 **Franklin** (growling): "Stay away from me, mutie scum."

 **Mary** : "What are you talking about, Frank? I was your sister!"

 **Franklin** : "You can't even DIE right! I shoved you into the lake and you *still* came forward in time to try to kill me!"

(tense pause, held gaze)

 **Mary** : "I forgive you for what you did to me..."

(Franklin puts the gun up to his own head)

 **Franklin** (sneering): "Well I ain't giving you 'n your kind the satisfaction of killin' me."

(he pulls the trigger)

* * *

(fin)

**Author's Note:**

>  **AUTHOR'S AFTERWORD** : Concerning Julie's nightmares... Given the nature of her temporal visualization mutation, it is possible that she was seeing what Starforce did to Dayton after her death in the alternate timeline of the story "V'Han Returns".


End file.
